Breaking down the North Texas SC first half of the season depth chart

We're now approximately half-way through the inaugural season of USL League One and exactly half-way through North Texas SC's campaign. With 14 games in the books, it's time for another look at the depth chart, continuing where we left off early in the season. There have been a few significant changes, with players arriving and impressing.

Goalkeepers

Starting from the back and moving forward, we find Carlos Avilez as the team's first-choice goalkeeper. He's well in form again and looking like the same standout player from his academy days. Lining up behind him, we find recent signing Eduardo "Pollo" Cortes, returning to the FC Dallas Organization after a few journeyman years.

Behind the two "official" keepers, it gets tricky. Neither Jimmy Maurer nor Kyle Zobeck are likely to be treated as depth behind Avilez, meaning that were Carlos to get injured, his spot would more than likely go to Cortes, or one of the two academy keepers who have made the bench, Michael Collodi and Zach Schawl. We haven't yet seen either of the kids get minutes in goal, because Avilez has been so consistent, and the three games he's missed, either Maurer or Zobeck have been used to stay fit and get some extra minutes. Maybe we'll see the kids in the second half.

Defenders

In the back line, Brecc Evans and Callum Montgomery are the two primary centerbacks. They've been getting better and better working together as the season has progressed, and the team looks visibly worse defensively when even one of the two isn't starting. Behind them, we have the likes of Cesar Murillo and Hector Montalvo, both signed to fill out the back line, but honestly, Alfusainey Jatta playing out of position might be better than both of them in this role. I don't know if I see Murillo or Montalvo sticking around longer than this season. That said, Murillo isn't bad, it's more that we've seen the best he has to offer and it's not much. Evans and Montgomery are at least on or above his level right now, and both have higher ceilings.

For the outside backs, Kevin Bonilla and Imanol Almaguer rank as the top two, in terms of current performance, with Jonathan Gomez making a pretty solid argument that he has what it takes to handle the professional game. Bonilla and Gomez are both clearly being discussed as potential MLS players in the near future, with Almaguer also near that conversation.

Almaguer gets most of his minutes in the back line but he might be better suited moving to a central midfield role. When Jatta has played center back, Almaguer takes Jatta's usual spot as the 6 and looks really good. Cesar Murillo has also played as an outside back, particularly late in June, with two starts at right back, but he's firmly behind the other three.

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Bryan Reynolds on the run for North Texas SC.(North Texas SC)

Coach Eric Quill is fond of rotating outside backs on both sings, to help them develop both feet and comfort in more aspects of their game. It's a great strategy, and we're seeing guys who are naturals on one side getting better and better on the opposite wing, to the point where it's actually tricky to tell what side a player prefers just from watching games. It also means that, for the most part, there's little reason to distinguish between left and right when ranking outside backs other than based on minutes played. There's been a more concrete definition of sidedness (chirality?) for the two MLS-contracted outside backs, Johnny Nelson and Bryan Reynolds, where Nelson is definitely playing on the left and Reynolds on the right, although at this point, both look like they're essentially part of the first team for good.

Central Midfielders

Frisco, Texas: Alfusainey Jatta #6 of North Texas SC controls the ball during game between North Texas SC and Madison FC on April 13, 2019 at Toyota Stadium. (Photo by Omar Vega / Al Dia Dallas)(Omar Vega)

In midfield, Quill has adopted/adapted FCD Head Coach Luchi Gonzalez's three-man midfield setup, with a single pivot defensive/holding midfielder (the 6), and two linking/playmaking midfielders (the dual 8s).

In the role of 6, Jatta has it locked down until he gets signed into MLS. Easily my pick for breakout player of the season, he arrived from near-total obscurity and somewhat dubious circumstances to emerge as a dominant force in games and a leader on and off the field. He's capable of shutting down opposing offenses, regaining possession, and playing laser-accurate passes all over the field while making it look effortless. And for 19, he shows a maturity in practices, working with his teammates, that one would normally expect from a veteran.

As mentioned above, I rate Almaguer better here than as an outside back. In much of the same ways that Jatta draws attention during games, Almaguer caught my eye during his first start in that position back in May against Orlando.

#21 Bicou Bissainthe of North Texas SC passes the ball against Forwrd Madison in USL League One play. (5-22-19)(Jack Wallace / North Texas SC)

Bicou Bissainthe ranks third in the position, mainly due to some lingering questions regarding his defending, and the fact that he's only received two starts in the position. He's not a bad player by any means, he just hasn't looked quite as good as Almaguer.

Just behind those three, we find Gibran Rayo, who has just a single start, and while he's looked alright, there's far from enough information to confidently list him higher.

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Thomas Roberts has also played this position, getting thrown into the proverbial fire by Gonzalez, Quill, and Co., to develop more on the defensive side of the game. He looked firmly "not bad," with Quill praising his debut performance, and Roberts feeling confident in himself to handle that role as needed moving forward.

Moving forward (literally), we arrive at the players who occupy one of the two "dual 8" roles. Leading the charge is David Rodriguez. Rodrigy is just 17, won't be 18 until next May, and yet he's already one of the brighter stars in the young league. Due to some lingering injury issues earlier in the year, we didn't see David make his debut until the 5th game, but in his 6 starts (so far), he's got two goals, 13 chances created, and looks to be the primary offensive focal point for Eric Quill's squad.

Right up there with him, potentially tied for best free-roaming attacking player, is Tanner Tessmann. I've hyped on Tanner, Buzz has hyped on Tanner, and I don't think I need to go into it again, but suffice to say, I want him signing a contract this year.

Thomas Roberts is another one of those talents, and he's already scratching the surface of MLS, with three starts in league play.

Arturo Rodriguez, Rodriguez the Elder, began the season in central midfield, but a move to the wing has brought out the best in him, with 3 goals, 5 assists, and a potential nod as league MVP.

Front 3

Onto the wingers, where the roster is deepest and most competitive. As with outside/wing backs, Quill likes to rotate wingers independent of their chirality, and with overlapping play and mid-match tactical adjustments, the distinction between left and right winger doesn't often apply with North Texas.

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Ronaldo Damus leads the charge among wingers, and goodness, can that kid play. He has 9 goals in 12 games played, 6 goals alone in his last 5 games, he's averaging just under a goal per 90, and leading the league's scoring race.

Rodriguez the Elder, Arturo, is commonly found opposite Damus, and as mentioned before, he's an early favorite for MVP.

Behind these two, we find Dante Sealy and Oscar Romero, and while they have just one goal between them, they've made much more of an impact in terms of keeping possession, pressing forward, and bringing the verticality that Gonzalez and Quill expect.

Ricardo Pepi of North Texas SC.(FC Dallas / North Texas SC)

Finally, it's time to talk about the hottest topic in the FC Dallas community since time immemorial: center forwards.

In the central forward position, the top player is blatantly obvious. It's Ricardo "El Tren" Pepi (buy that merch!), and this hype train - or should it be tren de bombo? - has no brakes. Pepi thoroughly tore the league up early in the season, with 7 goals in 6 games, and got signed to a homegrown contract. He'll definitely be back with North Texas periodically through at least the end of 2019, but there's a real chance he moves to MLS full-time at some point in 2020.

Johan Gomez celebrates his first professional goal for North Texas against Orlando City B. (05-11-2019)(North Texas SC / Jack Wallace)

Ronaldo Damus ranks as the second choice forward, when Pepi is off doing MLS-related things, simply because of his offensive prowess, but quite often, Quill has gone to Johan Gomez centrally and kept Damus on the wing. Speaking of Gomez, he stepped in this summer when Pepi was either with academy teams, the MLS side, or the youth national teams, and fit in really, really well. He's not the sort of game-changing, backline-breaking, attention-grabbing player like Pepi or even Damus, but he's still developing and there's hope for him yet.

Formation

That leaves our final depth chart looking a little something like this:

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North Texas SC depth chart(John Lenard / John Lenard)

North Texas SC sits comfortably in first place in USL League One, with 30 points through 14 games. The team returns to action this Saturday, July 13, when they travel to Richmond to take on the Kickers. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central, and like all USL League One games, will be streamed on ESPN+.

3rd Degree is an independent, North Texas soccer blog with a focus on FC Dallas.(Buzz Carrick / 3rd Degree)